I’ve wanted GIS-camera integration for over a year, but now I’ve found the perfect marketing strategy to accelerate its adoption. It’s an opportunity for Google to introduce its brand even deeper into people’s lives, while integrating two of Google’s recent acquisitions:

1. the Picasa photo organizer and
2. the Keyhole Satellite Imaging Service

Marketing the Product: Canon Digital Rebel with Google PictureLink

Google will develop a trademark to signify that a Camera :

• is capable of saving GIS data with the picture and
• comes with the software necessary to organize and find photos

For my example, I’ll coin the term “PhotoLink.”

Google would approach various camera makers about including a GIS unit and Google’s software with their cameras. I hear that GIS sensors are now only about $10, so Google should be willing to subsidize their cost if the camera maker agrees to include a Google logo on the camera body.

The Logo would serve a similar purpose to the Intel’s Centrino brand, which signifies mobility through wifi and longer battery life.

PictureLink would signify the ability to connect a picture to:

• other people’s picturessatellite images and maps

And of course with the Google brand, everyone will know that it will be easy to find the photo they’re looking for

Using the the Product

Customers will take pictures as normal, but when they load the photos onto their computer, Picasa will extract GIS metadata stored in EXIF fields.

In addition to the Timeline, Picasa users will have a Keyhole-like way to Enjoy their Photos:

• grouped by location
• overlaid on top of a satellite view

In the “Share your photos” section, Picasa users will have the option of “Sharing with the Public”.

Regardless of their own decision to share, Picasa users will have the option of viewing public pictures from the same or a nearby Location.

Collaborative Photography Example

Suppose I take pictures of hurricane damage in Florida. I may only get a few good ones, and I wonder if other people are willing to share their photos. With PhotoLink, I am able to see all other PhotoLink-enabled public photos.

Some professionals may want to participate as well. They could have a publicly indexable thumbnail, but charge a fee for a high quality version.

Related

• Add Geographical Data To Digital Images
• GPSPhotoLinker for Mac OS 10.3

I’ve read several articles that talk about “open source marketing” as an emerging trend and defined it as:

1. developing products with public feedback
2. licensing advertising copy so that customers can create derivative ads
3. promoting open source products

I prefer the first definition because it signals the beginning of a conversation that will improve product quality.

The Bandwagon

If the term does become common this coming year, I expect many companies will try to benefit from the “buzz”, but without making any real changes in how they do business.

Open source marketing demands:

• transparency
• authenticity
• willingness to admit you aren’t perfect, but eager to improve

BzzAgent, which describes itself as an “open source marketing” company, was profiled in a NYTimes article and shown to engage in deceptive practices. Their agents:

• called bookstores and pretended not to know the the name of a book, while giving a raving description
• posted glowing reviews on Amazon.com for books they’re promoting, without disclosing their relationship

To be fair, Bzzagent doesn’t entirely control their agents, and has recently taken some steps to open up. If the “open” in “open source marketing” means anything, it’s being transparent and honest.

The Open Source Marketing Process

Robert Scoble did a good job of outlining a process of interaction:

1. company project managers start a blog
2. take feedback from the blogosphere
3. send out early demos for webloggers to review

Blogger Reviews

This fits with Dave Winer’s suggestion (link?) that companies could get better publicity if
they sent product samples out to bloggers and then let the bloggers write whatever they
want.

I agree, but I think it will be a tough step for many of them to take.

My guidelines for this would be:

• publicize the list of people you sent samples to
• don’t pay them or let them keep the merchandise
• all feedback should be public. Otherwise it’s just a focus group.

Astroturfing: a manufactured imitation

Since real people might mix their praises with criticism, there will always
be the temptation to astroturf, or manufacture a perfectly green “grass-roots” movement.

This may fool a few people initially, but it won’t be long until sites spring up debunking the tactic.
Authenticity can’t be easily faked. If a company wants better press, they’ll do better by listening to customers and investing in product improvements.

The Fear of Admitting it’s Worse than it Appears

Most products really aren’t all that good, or at least they aren’t as good
as we pretend them to be.

Dave Winer says the it’s hard to choose songs on an iPod while you walk.
That may sound bad, but the iPod is still a decent device — better than the competition.

What Apple should do is read what the the web reviewers are saying and use it to design a better
version.

The Cluetrain Connection

To take it a step further and fulfill Doc Searl’s vision, companies have to establish a relationship.

“And that relationship isn’t just with a “brand.” To have real value, the relationsihp needs to be with the people behind that brand.”

That means that people know employees names and personalities.

I felt like I could get a sense of some of the Microsoft SQL Server Team’s personalities when I listened to their last webcast. Compare that with Apple. The only person I know there is Steve Jobs.

One of the things that Comcast’s Cable service does poorly is their TV guide. It’s takes up too much screen space, displays too little information, and is slow.

There are hundreds of winamp skins. Most of them are awful, but a few are really good. What I want, is a way to write a “skin” for my Television.

The most important part of the skin would deal with Program Info, but imagine a skin for actual program content. Al Jazera could be made to look like Fox, or NBC to look to like CSPAN. Of course the networks are likely to object because want to preserve a “brand” identity, but I maintain that the networks should only get to choose the “default” and the viewer should have the final say.

(I hear Direct TV offers skins but I don’t have any details.)

A month ago, I became the official owner of an ’89 Ford Taurus. The transaction took place at a local car dealer which also serves as a public notary. A few days later, I received the title in the mail.

Ownership Society

In his forthcoming State of the Union address, President Bush is expected to describe his vision of an “Ownership Society”. He’ll use Social Security, HealthCare, and Education accounts as examples of individual ownership. I’d like to use the occassion to focus on Intellectual Property Ownership.

“Royalty Compliance” vs “IP Participation”

Currently, most IP Policy focuses on enforcing “Royalty Compliance“. A better approach would emphasize “IP Participation“.

Technology standards like the “broadcast flag” (distribution flag) and copy prevention technologies make negative assertions about distribution.

But imagine instead, a positive standard. One that allows me to prove that I own what I paid for. One that allows me to transfer ownership to someone else.